


The loop

by Firekittylol



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Bittersweet, Description Heavy, Heavy Angst, No happy endings, Other, angst all the way to the end, be warned, i was crying while I wrote it olease, it hurst, little baby gods, people die, please, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekittylol/pseuds/Firekittylol
Summary: A series of excerpts, personal experiences, memory snippets, all telling the same story. A god who got stuck between existence and non-existence, another trying to help, and the story of how it all happened.
Relationships: None
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Nobody knows what happened to him, some say it was a freakish accident, some say it was the work of a cult, others think he never existed at all.

But he does, there’s proof, old photos and belongings. But not even his mother and father remember him. No one in his home knows of him, even though there are records of his birth. No one knows why he went missing. Or who he was.

If you ask him who he is he’s tell you “A pale ghost, I am no one. I have no memory, no identity. I have no name.”

If you ask him what happened he’d say “I don’t know. I woke up here.”

If you ask how old he is, he’d say “six”

If you ask where he is, he’d tell you, “I don’t know. It’s like the real world, except everything is grey, no one can see me, no one can hear me. But I can see them, I can hear them. I can’t interact, not most of the time Anyways.”

I’d guess that he exists in a place between existence and not, and that is the only thing I know for certain.

........

I’m surprised you’ve never heard this story before, it’s a common tale told to young gods.


	2. Excerpt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A way out, Hope is lost

He stood frozen, it was too late. Who was that? How did they find him? 

“W...wait...” he went over to where it had happened, they were still there, he could see the panic on their face as they yelled at the air. 

He sucked in shaky breaths, after so long

“C-come back...” tears welled up, “come back! I want out! I want to go with you!” A thousand pained voices screamed out at once “Please!” 

But nothing happened. 

He fell to his knees, “I want to leave.” How long had it been? A thousand years? A hundred thousand? Who knew. 

Finally, someone had found him, they’d found a way to get to him. But, now, it’s too late.


	3. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one who’s trapped trying to recall how he got trapped there

He tried to recall, to remember, it was all a blur. All of his memories mashing together and fading away until he was nothing but the shattered remains of someone who one lived. Existed.   
Breathed.

Every now and again he could hear through the grey, a muffled voice promising to help him. It felt familiar.

It felt so familiar.

~~_She screamed an begged, yelling for him to wake up, but he was awake, and he was in pain. It hurt it hurt it hurt._ ~~

He looked down at his torn, singed clothes, emotions fading into the numb static he’d grown so used to.   
  


_~~The impact is what killed him, she thought. Her son, her boy, who had followed her to work, if she’d know he was there she would’ve ordered they turn that thing off the moment it became unstable. He wasn’t dead, he still lived, he wasn’t alive in body, but he was there. Trapped.~~ _

He looked back up at nothing. He saw time moving forward. He saw a village be built, he saw the birth of two twin gods. He saw nothing.

~~_The brightest light, the loudest sound, he was thrown against the universe itself. Looking into the darkness, disoriented, and watched the darkness look back. He woke up in the loop afterwards. Trapped.  
_ ~~

Where was he again? What was he doing? What had he been trying to remember?   
  


~~_it has been thousands of years, thousands of repeated attempts to remember. but his young mind always forgot, it always slipped away._ ~~

He watched the little god who’d opened the portal earlier that........it didn’t matter.   
  


the little god was reading a book on magic.

~~_his father had demanded to know what happened, why she had brought home the charred corpse of their son, why he was dead, what had happened. He tried to reach out so many times. He tried to tell them he was still there. Not even the spirits could see him, could sense him.  
_ ~~

**~~_he watched his family fall apart_ ~~ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooohhhh boy


	4. Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shattered remains of him had nearly faded completely, but he was seen, and rumors spread. He became trapped once again, when he’d been so close to an escape

_~~People had tried to find out what happened, but after only a day he began to fade from photos he’d been in. His memory was shattered, people could not recall him, but they could feel something was missing. His things still existed after all.~~ _

He breathed shallow breaths, his mind fuzzy, body weak, slumped limply against the walls of....he’d heard people call it a hot spring. He was forgotten, this is what true death must feel like.   
  


He wasn’t frightened, or upset, in fact, he was relived, because finally, he could leave this place.   
  


He closed his eyes, focused on nothing, and that’s when he heard someone shriek. He opened his eyes and looked up, this person was looking frantically around. An adult, he thought, they were tall enough to be one.   
  


He didn’t pay it any attention, he hadn’t cared until he felt strength returning to him. Great.   
  


It took a few days, but he could move again, though he wasn’t happy about it.   
  


He sat by a statue, it had a white glow coming from its carved body. That was new.   
  


He looked out to the Black Sea, and saw those eight specks of light. It knew of him, but he didn’t care. Gods didn’t count. It had to be a mortal who remembered you.

He sense a large power source moving towards him. Another god. He looked over. They saw him, and they ran over, but The Loop pulled him back before they could reach.   
  
The white glow left that statue.   
  


The little god turned to the Black Sea, which had risen, and taken shape. Eight glowing eyes looking down at the little god.

They were demanding to know what they just saw.

”Nightmare King, calm yourself. I’ll explain.” 


	5. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna go ahead and finish this out while I still remember what ending I’m Gonna give it!

The child of nightmares sat beside his twin sister, going over those old tomes of magic. The Loop was not something to mess with, not without knowing what could happen.

His sister did not think it was a good idea, and tried to stop him many times. He was determined, and he found a spell.   
  


It wouldn’t be long now.   
  
  


  
  


He watched, and watched, and watched, it was the only thing he could do. He saw the little god trying to help him. He thought it was nice, but didn’t truly believe it would work.   
  


So he watched.   
  


It was.....it doesn’t matter, the days blend together here, but the little god managed to reach out, and grab his hand. The little god told him that he found a way to free him. Then The Loop kicked in again, sending the little god away from it, and leaving him to return to his stasis.   
  


What a foolishly hopeful thought.   
  


  
He felt Hope.

hope.   
  


There’s an emotion he thought he would never feel again. He held onto it, unlike all the others, he didn’t fade back into his numbness.   
  


Years would go by, but he found time to be irrelevant. The little...well...not so little anymore, maybe a young teen? The teenage god reached him many more times, always telling him to wait a little longer. 

He had waited this long, what was a while longer?   
  


The Nightmare god went to a place where Soul hung thick in the air, he had made the connection years ago, to set up a spell that he hoped would work. It would work. It would work, it had to.

He watched, and listened, just like he always did. Sitting ever so patiently in that place, he could been seen, even if he did look like nothing more than a faded image.

The Teenage god looked at him, smiled, “Today is the day.” 

For what? He couldn’t ask, he couldn’t be heard. He would settle for tilting his head. But he never got an answer.

The Nightmare god turned away from him, tome of ancient magic open, and recited the words needed. 

Soul whipped through the room, tearing at the fabric of what made The Loop, this was not the same portal as last time. This was not even a portal. 

He was confused. He’d forgotten confusion. He looked down, out of habit, and saw dark blue, not that agonizing, monotone grey. He looked at the teenage god, he saw red and black. He could feel cloth under his fingers, and hard rock under his legs and feet. He could hear the sounds of soul flying wildly about. He felt warm, and incredibly cold as well.

The Nightmare his looked at him, the spell wasn’t down yet, but he could see the body of his ghostly friend becoming physical. It was working.   
  


It took a few seconds for the spell it finish. It had felt like hours.   
  


He looked at the teenage god, softly gasping, he was alive again, truly and wholly alive. He couldn’t move, his entire body was on fire. He was shaking, his limbs were unused to the weight of a fully physical body.   
  


“Here.” The Nightmare god said, “I’ll help you.” He went over and picked him up. “I knew you were injured, so I asked mom to keep a bed open at the medical office.”   
  


He wasn’t used to speaking, his voice was strained and course, “t...hank you...” 

“It’s not a problem. After I found out, I couldn’t just leave you trapped there. My name is Grimm, by the way.”   
  


He tried to listen for as long as he could, but his mind was overwhelmed by all of the new sensory information. Grimm’s voice faded out, and he wasn’t fully aware until he felt himself being placed into something...soft...it felt soft.   
  


He was alive.

His body hurt, it’s burning, he can feel something warm leaking from the burns. It added to the pain.   
  


But he was alive.


	6. Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo, last chapter. Here we go!
> 
> Might write and epilogue.

He was freed only a few days ago, he already felt weak. That same weakness he felt when his memory had almost completely faded away.   
  


No one had realized how badly he was hurt, no even he had known, but, he was free.   
  


Grimm had come to visit many times, he doesn’t think Grimm realized he wouldn’t recover. Not until today. He’ll be honest, he grew attached to Grimm, he’d helped him escape. He’d consider the other his friend, and he’d been honest about that too.   
  


“Hello friend.” Today was like any other, he knew who it was at the bedside, “How are you today? Better than yesterday I hope.”

He looked to his side and shook his head.

“No? The same?”   
  


He shook his head again.   
  


“oh.” Grimm thought, “Well, mom always told me that things tend to get worse before they get better.”   
  


he would’ve laughed, if he could. He moved over, close to his friend, and leaned up, wrapping his arms around the others neck.

”I.....thank you for the hug.” Grimm said, “But I really don’t think it’s necessary.” He hugged back, then he realized what was happening.   
  


his skin still felt warm, no one had managed to do anything for the burns, and they couldn’t give proper stitches until the burns began to heal some. So the wounds were glued together, but the glue always melted. They were bandaged, but torn the wounds open again when they needed to be changed.   
  


he wasn’t going to recover, but it seems he accepted that, because at least he wasn’t trapped in The Loop anymore.   
  


“Mom!” Grimm shouted, “Mom!” He looked down at his nameless friend, “You are not going to die!”   
  


he shook his head 

“You are not! You’re young! You can still live.”   
  


he shook his head again. His mind whispered into Grimm’s, ‘It okay. I’m okay with this.’

”No, why? Why, you still have so much left to do! You can’t die.”   
  


‘Im okay. I’m free. It’s okay.’   
  


his body started to go limp, Grimm felt the tight hug loosen, and hugged tighter. He accepted death, there was nothing Grimm could do about that, other than let his last moments be filled with comfort in knowing that his friend hasn’t abandon him.


	7. EPILOGUE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath

He would learn to live with the pain of losing a friend, even if he hadn’t know that nameless child for very long. He would grow into an adult, he would split himself in two. He would form a troupe.

He was living life.

A large crash sounded through that old place, the one his sister now ruled. He would hear that a large Wyrm crashed into the cliff side, and chose to transform. To claim Hallownest.

He would visit that kingdom, only to see what had become of it since the Wyrm took rule of it. 

It was flourishing, and beautiful, new technology everywhere, bustling cities and ancient archives and everything in between lived there now. He wanted to meet the one responsible for creating this place, oh, how many nightmares would come if it’s fall? 

He got his wish. He got to meet the king, and he found himself unable to move. It was him. It was his nameless friend from all those years ago. Standing, alive. 

“Greetings.” His voice was cold, quiet, it was a thousand voices all whispering at once. “May I ask who you are, and why you wished to speak with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha. Hahaha.....haha....
> 
> Bittersweet ending for the win

**Author's Note:**

> Suffer.


End file.
